Lt. Colonel Prasad Purohit asked the court to make a ban over the entrance of press and media inside the court.
Lt. Purohit requested such because the crucial information about the accused in the Malegaon Blasts, was shared by media due to which Pakistan using it in the creation of web series.
A serving army officer found the video clip on some website and shared the same to the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge.
Lieutenant Purohit told the Mumbai Court that the web series which was being telecast across the border in Pakistan based on information allegedly provided by media could be misused by terrorist outfits in Pakistan.
He said that disclosure of momentous details or statistics, would be a danger to the country, “I have been exposed and this is not right for the country,” he urged.
He further claims for the confidentiality of the proceedings and related reports of the case and affirms to conduct the trial strictly “in camera.”
Due to proliferation of the web series, caught the attention and the entire blast case was resurrected against him.
He also told the Court that in order to maintain the intimacy of the case trial he neither he nor his lawyer, advocate Viral Babbar, would interact with the media at any point of time.
In 2019, the court had passed constraints for media to follow and therefore, the first application was filed for the “in camera” trial, which is still pending before the Bombay High Court. And now this was the second application filed for the same, identified the Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal.
Co-accused Sameer Kulkarni opposed Purohit’s and submitted plea to the court, saying that Lt. Purohit has no perfect evidence to prove that the order of the court was violated. The court decided to pass orders for the same in the next week. Summoning of witnesses, holding trials and dropping witnesses, is amounting to waste of time of the court.
Meanwhile prime accused BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Pragya Singh Thakur and Advocate JP Mishra representing the MP, both show their discrepancy on Lt. Purohit claims.
BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, told a special court on Tuesday that the NIA should be directed to examine “relevant” witnesses and not prolong the trial. So far, 295 witnesses have deposed.
Thakur’s lawyer J P Mishra told the court, “At least 20 witnesses summoned were dropped after they were asked to remain present in court. This shows that the prosecution is summoning witnesses without application of mind and without accessing if they need to be examined.”
Shahid Nadeem, lawyer for the intervener in the case, opposed the Purohit’s plea and said that the “in camera”, present in the NIA Act and the UAPA Act, protects witnesses of the case.
Smita Mishra said the book “Lt Colonel Purohit: The Man Betrayed?” was based on information that is already available in public domain and has nothing about the ongoing trial in the case.
Meanwhile, posters of the book launch event have gone viral on social media. As mentioned in the poster, the book will be launched at an event at SP College, Pune, at the hands of three former IPS officers – Jayant Umranikar, Satyapal Singh (BJP MP and former Union minister) and Sanjay Barve.
Advocate Nadeem, in an email written to NIA on December 6, said the proposed launch of the book will invite contempt of a trial court order passed by special judge V S Padalkar on October 1, 2019. Nadeem also attached the court order with his email which stated: “Media, Journalists, Correspondents, shall not conduct debate, interview, interaction, discussion of any kind on subject matter, to print/publish/display the same in any whatsoever matter till the end of the trial.”
For her part, author Mishra, who is also a Prasar Bharati advisor, said, “My book does not cause any contempt of court because it just puts together inputs, political points and other material already available in the public domain on various platforms. There is not a word in this book about the ongoing trial. Those who are making allegations should read the book first. It seems they have been misled by someone or are doing this deliberately. I am a law abiding citizen….”
Meanwhile, Upadhyaya wrote on Twitter: “In utter violation of a specific NIA Court order, Malegaon accused Purohit manipulating visual & print media to lobby & build public opinion to put pressure & influence trial. Kindly stop it.” Upadhyay tagged NIA, Amit Shah’s office, Commissioner of Pune city police, Satyapal Singh and others in his post.
BY: AYUSHI BHUSHAN, 1ST YEAR, BA.LLB(INTEGRATED), BANASTHALI UNIVERSITY, RAJASTHAN
0 Comments